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United States Patent 5,042,705
Johansson August 27, 1991
Arrangement for a vehicle-mounted load-carrier for a cycle

Abstract

The present invention relates to an arrangement (1) for a vehicle-mounted load-carrier (2) for a cycle (3) or some other load, which is capable of attachment to a supporting bar (4) or a similar holding element capable of being connected to the load-carrier. The invention permits the rapid securing of, for example, cycles of varying size to the vehicle-mounted load-carrier without the need for complicated readjustment and adaptation of the securing devices in order to ensure reliable retention. The load-carrier (2) and the supporting bar, etc. (4) are so arranged as to be clamped together by means of securing devices (5) capable of adjustment along the supporting bar (4) in question and straddling same, which securing devices include a clamping arm (11) for securely clamping the load-carrier and capable of actuation by means of an adjuster (7).

Inventors: Johansson; Uno (Bor.ang.s, SE)
Assignee: J.S. Products AB (Dalsjofors, SE)
Appl. No.: 465144
Filed: February 23, 1990
PCT Filed: August 24, 1988
PCT NO: PCT/SE88/00433
371 Date: February 23, 1990
102(e) Date: February 23, 1990
PCT PUB.NO.: WO89/01884
PCT PUB. Date: March 9, 1989
Foreign Application Priority Data
Sep 02, 1987[SE]8703402

Current U.S. Class: 224/315; 224/324; 224/924
Intern'l Class: B60R 009/048
Field of Search: 224/42.03 B,309,310,314,315,320-326,330,329

References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
2988253Jun., 1961Menghi224/324.
3931919Jan., 1976Gerber et al.224/323.
4396138Aug., 1983Kirschner224/324.
4442961Apr., 1984Bott224/42.
4489868Dec., 1984Thirion224/321.
4496089Jan., 1985Eklund224/329.
4629104Feb., 1986Jacquet224/324.
4688706Aug., 1987Thulin224/329.
4702401Oct., 1987Graber et al.224/42.
4752022Jun., 1988Thulin224/314.
Foreign Patent Documents
57824Aug., 1982EP224/324.
2809268Sep., 1978DE224/324.
2235828Mar., 1975FR224/324.
2332155Jul., 1977FR224/324.
2431396Mar., 1980FR224/326.
433031Sep., 1967SE224/324.


Other References

THULE System Catalog, Elden Group America, Inc., pp. 1, 10 and 16, 1987-1988.
THULE Catalog, Eldon Group America, Inc., pp. 1, 2, 11, 30 and 36, no effective date given.

Primary Examiner: Recla; Henry J.
Assistant Examiner: Fetsuga; Robert M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dvorak and Traub
Claims


I claim:

1. An arrangement for securing a load such as a cycle on a vehicle mounted load carrier, said arrangement has a supporting bar adapted to straddle across said load carrier and attacheable to said load carrier by a securing device adjustably movable along said supporting bar, characterized in that said securing device comprises a sleeve portion substantially encompassing the cross-sectional area of said supporting bar, a clamping arm pivotally and retractively supported from said sleeve and adapted to slidably receive the girth of said load carrier, an adjuster pivotally secured to said sleeve and having one end portion pivotally linked to said clamping arm and other end portion adapted for manual operation, whereby said securing device is slidably positionable both with respect to said load carrier and said supporting bar.

2. Arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the adjuster is coupled by a link, which exhibits an over-center function, to said clamping arm.

3. Arrangement in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the clamping arm is attached to the adjuster via a link.

4. Arrangement in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the shape of the clamping arm is adapted to fit the peripheral part of a load-carrier.

5. Arrangement in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the adjuster has a locking device which is engageable with a locking element supported on the sleeve portion.

6. Arrangement in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the securing device is provided with anchorage devices for receiving a locking wire secured to a cycle.

7. Arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the clamping arm is attached to the adjuster via a link.

8. Arrangement in accordance with claim 7, characterized in that the shape of the clamping arm is adapted to fit the peripheral part of a load-carrier.

9. Arrangement in accordance with claim 7, characterized in that the adjuster has a locking device which is engageable with a locking element supported on the sleeve portion.

10. Arrangement in accordance with claim 7, characterized in that the securing device is provided with anchorage devices for receiving a locking wire secured to a cycle.

11. Arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the shape of the clamping arm is adapted to fit the peripheral part of said load-carrier.

12. Arrangement in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that the clamping arm has a front part adapted to contact a wall part on the load carrier along at least its lower part.

13. Arrangement in accordance with claim 12, characterized in that the adjuster has a locking device which is engageable with a locking element supported on the sleeve portion.

14. Arrangement in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that the adjuster has a locking device which is engageable with a locking element supported on the sleeve portion.

15. Arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the adjuster has a locking device which is adapted to engage with a locking element supported on said sleeve portion.

16. Arrangement in accordance with claim 15, characterized in that the locking device has a moving tongue which is engageable by said locking element.

17. Arrangement in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the securing device is provided with anchorage devices for receiving a wire fastened to the cycle.

18. Arrangement in accordance with claim 17, characterized in that the anchorage device has a slot-shaped wire-accommodating opening which extends along an end wall of the securing device.

19. An arrangement for securing a load such as a cycle on a vehicle mounted load carrier, said arrangement has a supporting bar adapted to straddle across said load carrier and attachable to said load carrier by a securing device adjustably movable along said supporting bar, characterized in that said securing device comprises a sleeve portion substantially encompassing the cross-sectional area of said supporting bar, a clamping arm pivotally and retractively supported from said sleeve and adapted to slidably receive the girth of said load carrier, an adjuster pivotally secured to said sleeve and having one end portion pivotally linked to said clamping arm and other end portion adapted for manual operation, whereby said securing device is slidably positionable both with respect to said load carrier and said supporting bar, said adjuster being pivotally secured to said clamping arm and having an end portion extending below said supporting bar, said sleeve portion having an end pivotally supporting a holding part, a link having one end pivotally connected to said end portion of said clamping arm and having the other end pivotally coupled to said holding part, and a pivot axis intercoupling said clamping arm with said holding part and said link.
Description


The present invention relates to an arrangement for a vehicle-mounted load-carrier for a cycle or some other similar load, which is capable of attachment in an upright attitude to a cycle supporting bar or a similar holding element capable of being connected to the load-carrier, said load-carrier and cycle supporting bar, etc., being so arranged as to be clamped together by means of securing devices capable of adjustment along the cycle supporting bar in question and straddling same.

Previously disclosed arrangements intended to permit cycles and similar loads to be supported on load-carriers on vehicle roofs do not permit rapid securing to or rapid release of the cycles in question from the load-carrier, nor do they permit the simple securing of cycles to different vehicles on which load-carriers are positioned at varying distances from one another.

The principal object of the present invention is thus, in the first place, to solve said problem by simple, yet secure means.

Said object is achieved by means of an arrangement in accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in that the securing device includes a clamping arm for securely clamping the load-carrier and capable of actuation by means of an adjuster, with the clamping arm and the adjuster being pivotally mounted on a sleeve-shaped carrier for the securing device.

The invention is described below as a number of preferred illustrative embodiments, in conjunction with which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a cycle supported on the roof of a vehicle by means of an arrangement in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cumulative view of the constituent parts of a cycle-holder arrangement;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a hub attachment and securing device;

FIG. 4 shows a securing device and a wheel attachment element supported by a cycle-supporting bar;

FIG. 5 shows a securing device during assembly to produce a load-carrier and a cycle supporting bar;

FIG. 6 shows a frame attachement;

FIG. 7 shows a hub attachment;

FIG. 8 shows an open securing device viewed from the front and at an angle from above;

FIG. 9 shows the open securing device viewed from the rear and at an angle from above;

FIG. 10 shows a closed securing device viewed from above;

FIG. 11 shows a closed securing device viewed from below;

FIG. 12 shows a wheel attachment element in the open position, viewed from below;

FIG. 13 shows the wheel attachment element in the closed position;

FIG. 14 shows the wheel attachment element viewed at an angle from below in the open position; and

FIG. 15 shows the wheel attachment element in the closed position.

An arrangement 1 for a load-carrier 2 for cycles 3 or other similar loads, which is intended to be supported by a vehicle, with the cycles 3, etc., being capable of attachment in an upright attitude to the roof with the help of a number of cycle supporting bars 4 or similar holding elements, which are so arranged as to be capable of being connected to the load-carrier 2 in question, comprises securing devices 5 of the kind illustrated in the drawings. The load-carrier 2 and the cycle supporting bar 4 are so arranged as to be clamped together by means of such securing devices 5, for which purpose the securing devices 5 are so arranged as to straddle the cycle supporting bar 4, etc., in question and to be adjustable along same. The securing device 5 comprises a clamping arm 6, which is capable of actuation by a manually operated adjuster 7, which clamping arm and adjuster are pivotally mounted on a sleeve-shaped carrier 8 for the securing device. The securing device carrier 8 is so arranged as to be capable of being slid onto the cycle supporting bar 4, etc., in the direction of the arrow 9, as shown in FIG. 5, in order to be displaced along the bar 4 and into the desired adjustable position next to a transverse load-carrier 2, so that the clamping arm 6 can engage from below around the load-carrier 2 for the purpose of securely clamping the load-carrier 2 and the bar 4 to one another. The shape of the clamping arm 6 is appropriately adapted to the peripheral part of a load-carrier in question and exhibits a front part 10 which extends at an angle upwards from a bottom part 11, which in turn is angled in relation to an ascending holding part 12.

By means of the front part 10, which is so arranged as to interact with the wall part 13 of a load-carrier 2 along at least its lower part, an attempt is made to cause the load-carrier 2 and the securing device to move in a direction towards one another, in a relative sense.

The securing device carrier 8 appropriately exhibits a stop 14 capable of interacting with a load-carrier bar 2 of the kind in question, which stop reaches down below the upper roof part 15 of a load-carrier bar in conjunction with the fastening together of the arrangement 1.

The clamping arm 6 is pivotally mounted in the direction of the arrows 18, 19 at the upper end 12A of the holding part 12 via a bearing 16, which is accommodated in the vertical side walls 17 of the securing device carrier.

At the transition between the bottom part and the holding part 11, 12, a link 20 or some other appropriate movementtransmission device is pivotally mounted about a bearing 21 to either side of the clamping arm 6, which is also attached to the adjuster 7 via the bearing 22, which is accommodated in the outer part 23 of the adjuster 7. The adjuster 7 is in turn pivotally mounted on the securing device carrier 8 via bearings 24 which, like the bearings 22, are similarly accommodated by vertical arm-like side walls 25 on the adjuster 7, which side walls are situated at a certain distance from one another.

The adjuster 7 is thus supported in such a way that it exhibits a so-called over-center function, that is to say the position of the bearing 22 is varied to either side of an imaginary line 26 passing through the bearings 21, 24, with the adjuster respectively in the open and closed position.

The adjuster 7 can appropriately exhibit a locking device 27, which can be so arranged, for example through the effect of a key 28, as to be capable of interacting with a matching locking element 29 supported by the securing device 5 on its carrier 8. The locking device can be in the form of a moving tongue 27, for example, which is capable when in the locked position of being accommodated in a suitable recess 29.

The securing device 5 can also exhibit anchorage devices 30 for accommodating or in some other way interacting with a locking wire 31 or similar, by means of which a cycle 3, etc., can be attached to a load-carrier 2 and a cycle supporting bar 4 for the purpose of preventing the theft of the cycle 3, which in this way is locked to the vehicle after locking the securing device 5. The anchorage device may consist of, for example, a slot-shaped wire-accommodating opening 30, which extends through and along the end wall 25 of the securing device, so that a wire-accommodating opening is formed on the upper part of the securing device 5 between the securing device carrier 8 and the swinging arm 7 and is capable of accommodating an aforementioned endless wire loop 31, for example, after it has been passed around a cycle 3 mounted on the vehicle.

The function of the securing devices should have emerged from the foregoing, and securing devices 5 can appropriately be used in pairs for the respective cycle supporting bars 4 turned in relation to one another so that the swinging arms 7 are easily accessible between the load-carrier bars 2.

No restriction, beyond the length of the cycle supporting bar, is embodied in the idea of invention, and the securing device 5 can be displaced freely in its clamped position along the cycle supporting bar 4 in order to be adapted to the actual distance L set between the load-carrier bars 2.

The attachment of a cycle 3 or some other similar load in an upright attitude to a cycle supporting bar 4 or some other similar holding element capable of being connected in a removable fashion to a load-carrier 2 supported on a vehicle can take place appropriately by means of U-shaped attachment elements 32, 33, 34, which exhibit means 35, 36, 37 for securing to a cycle, etc., 3.

The remaining side 38 of the cycle supporting bar is arranged by means of quick-action attachment element 32 in such way that the attachment element 32 is securely clamped around the cycle supporting bar. The bottom 40 of the load carrier 2 is arranged to be clamped by the securing device 5 to the cycle supporting bar 4.

Attachment elements 32, which at their upper surface exhibit a recess 35 to accommodate the wheel 42, which attachment elements are attached to the cycle 3 in question, are each provided with a transcurrent opening 43 in the side 44 for the purpose of accommodating an enclosing cycle supporting bar 4 introduced from the side of the cycle supporting bar, etc., 4. A preferably flexible quick-action clamping device 41 is so arranged, when in the locked position I, as to bridge said opening 43 and to engage around the aforementioned wheel 42 accommodated in the recess 35.

The quick-action clamping device, which is preferably constituted by an endless loop 41, preferably a plastic-coated wire made of metal, for example, or some other suitable material, and which exhibits at its outer part 45 a wear protector 46, which is formed into a loop, is so arranged as to be capable of being attached to the attachment element 32 at a certain distance from one another with their respective end parts 45, 47. One end part is held in a movably supported clasp 48, which is pivotally mounted via a bearing 49, which is situated on the outside of the end wall 50 situated away from the introduction opening 43, so that an over-center effect is achieved.

The opposite end 46 of the quick-action locking device is capable of removable attachment to a locking device fastener 52 situated on the under side 51 of the attachment element at a certain distance from the clamping bearing 49. The locking device fastener is formed preferably from a number of recesses 53, 53.sup.A, 53.sup.B, 53.sup.C arranged in a row, in which matching recess, the end 46 of the quick-action clamping device can be accommodated for securing to same after snapping the clasp 48 into engagement. Receiving channels 54, 55 extend to either side of the recesses 53--53.sup.C for the purpose of accommodating parts 41A, 41B of the quick-action clamping device.

Irrespective of the width of the wheel 42, the quick-action clamping device 41 is able to clamp it and the attachment element 32 securely by positioning the quick-action clamping device 41 in the desired recess 53--53.sup.C and locking it by means of the clasp 48.

Said quick-action clamping device 32 can easily be applied to, and released from the cycle supporting bar 4 in question, and can be displaced into the desired position along a cycle supporting bar 4 in order to be able to adapt the width between the cycle wheels 42 in the case of cycles of varying size without having to actuate knobs or screws, etc.

One attachment element 33, which is so arranged as to be capable of being attached rapidly in a removable fashion to the frame of a cycle 3 via stays 56 and securing means 36, can exhibit above its carrier 57, which is preferably of U-shaped cross-section, a receiving part 58 between two travel-restricting heels 59, so as to be capable of holding a cycle supporting bar, etc., 4 without the risk of their being displaced laterally relative to one another in the clamped position, as shown in FIG. 2.

Said part 58, as well as a clamping part 60 on the attachment element 34, are so arranged as to be clamped securely between the load-carrier 2 and the cycle supporting bar, etc., 4 through the effect of the securing device 5.

The invention is not restricted to the illustrative embodiment described above and illustrated in the drawings, but can be modified within the scope of the Patent Claims without departing from the idea of invention.

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